1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductive barium titanate having a positive temperature coefficient of resistance, and which is widely used as material for temperature or electric current control, or other purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Barium titanate is known as an insulator having a high specific resistivity of at least 10.sup.10 .OMEGA.cm. Semiconductive ceramics having a low a specific resistivity as, say, 10 to 10.sup.2 .OMEGA.cm at ordinary room temperature are obtained of barium titanate is baked in the presence of a small quantity of at least one oxide of any such element as yttrium and other rare earth elements, antimony (Sb), niobium (Nb), bismuth (Bi) and tantalum (Ta), or if barium titanate is baked in a reducing atmosphere and rendered semiconductive, and the sintered product of such barium titanate is oxidized only in its intergranular region. These semiconductive barium titanate ceramics are characterized by showing reversibly a sharp rise in electrical specific resistivity from a low level at a temperature lower than a point corresponding to the Curie temperature of barium titanate to a high level at a higher temperature. Due to these positive temperature coefficients (PTC) of resistivity, semiconductive barium titanate ceramics are widely used as materials for temperature or electric current control, and other purposes.
These semiconductive ceramics are, however, not suitable for practical use, since even a slight change in the quantity of the doping element employed brings about a great change in specific resistivity, and their reproducibility is low. Their baking temperature at which the barium titanate is rendered semiconductive is high, and their grains grow so greatly that enlarged grains are very likely to form pores.
Manganese or the like is added to those semiconductive ceramics if they are used for making a switching element, a current controlled type heating element, or the like which requires a large specific resistivity ratio and a sharp rise in the variation of specific resistivity in the PTC temperature region. It is, however, necessary for this purpose to control the quantity of any such additive very minutely even in the percentage of several-thousandths, since even a very small deviation brings about a great change in the specific resistivity of ceramics at ordinary room temperature.